Anti-Semitism is intolerance, hostility and/or hostility towards Jews. Today, anti-Semitism is recognized as a form of xenophobia that has common roots with chauvinism and racism. Usually anti-Semitism is expressed in dislike, antipathy and even hatred towards ethnic Jews and their descendants, towards the religion of Judaism, often towards everything Jewish or pro-Jewish in general. Today, anti-Semitism can also take the form of harsh anti-Israel speeches. A related term to anti-Semitism is anti-Semitism, but the concept of “anti-Semitism” often has a broader meaning than simply dislike for Jews, for example: anti-Semitism as a political ideology (for example, state anti-Semitism), religious anti-Semitism, everyday anti-Semitism, etc. History shows that founded based on prejudice, anti-Semitism is the cause of centuries of persecution of Jews, mass pogroms, murders, the Holocaust.
More than two thousand years ago, in the Persian Empire, the all-powerful minister at the court of King Ahasuerus, Haman, conceived the idea of exterminating all Jews. The book of Esther contains a speech by the minister, with which he turned to the king in order to persuade him to attempt a final solution to the Jewish question: “And Haman said to King Ahasuerus: In all areas of your kingdom there is one people, scattered among the nations and separated from them. Its laws are different from those of all peoples, and they do not fulfill the laws of the king, and the king should not leave them. Wouldn't it be pleasing for the king to give orders to destroy them? These words were spoken more than two thousand years ago. It is difficult to say what has changed in this regard since then. Generations come, generations go, but anti-Semitism remains, a phenomenon almost as ancient as the Jewish people itself, a phenomenon as curious and as surprising as the very existence of the Jewish people.
History of antisemitism
Religious antisemitism
In antiquity and in the Middle Ages, anti-Semitism acted mainly as a manifestation of religious intolerance, especially in European Christian countries. In essence, the New Testament contained an accusation against the Jews that they had crucified a deity. Jew-hatred has been cultivated for centuries by priests, preachers and even popes. Later, in the Middle Ages, a new blood libel appeared - the Jews were accused of using Christian blood to make Passover matzah.
Enlightenment antisemitism
Since the end of the 18th century, after the French Revolution, the influence of Christianity on the public life of European countries has been weakening; it would seem that anti-Semitism should also disappear. However, he did not disappear, but only changed clothes. If earlier anti-Semitism wore a priest's cassock and came mainly from the walls of churches, by the end of the 19th century, he put on a professorial tailcoat. In a number of scientific centers in Western Europe in the 70-80s of the last century, a racial theory began to develop, the first victims of which were the Jews. A curious phenomenon: before the Jews were hated for religious reasons, now for racial reasons; The reason has changed, but the essence remains the same. By the end of the 19th century, a process of emancipation had taken place in almost all European countries. Jews, having received civil rights, quickly infiltrated into all spheres of public life; everything seemed to be going for the better, but here's the paradox: it was from the middle of the 19th century that an unprecedented rise in anti-Semitism began. In 1848 - Jewish pogroms in Poland, followed by the famous Dreyfus affair at the end of the 19th century, in Germany in the 80s - the organization of an anti-Semitic party, then anti-Semitic legislation in Russia, pogroms in Russia and Ukraine, finally, the Beilis trial in 1912, the Petlyura pogroms, in which, according to the most conservative estimates, 200,000 Jews perished, and, finally, what happened during World War II.
Attempts at a secular solution to the problem of anti-Semitism
Events changed, life in countries changed; one thing remained unchanged - anti-Semitism. It must be said that changes have taken place not only in the life of the peoples of European countries, but also in the life of the Jewish people. Previously, the spiritual leaders of the Jews treated anti-Semitism as a given - there is such a thing, just like there is cold, for example. They never tried to find a radical solution to the Jewish question, they never tried to fight anti-Semitism as a phenomenon. All that the leaders of the Jewish people did from time immemorial was that every time the next danger approached, they tried to fight it, tried to weaken the threat, and did it with varying success. In the 19th century, a departure from Judaism begins in the Jewish people, and new secular leaders attempt to fundamentally solve the "anti-Semitic issue."
Reformists against anti-Semitism
It is clear that if you want to fight any social phenomenon, you must first of all know its roots, and from that time to the present day, several theories have been put forward trying to explain what the roots of anti-Semitism are. The first such attempt was reform, that is, the organization of Reformed congregations in Western Europe, mainly in Germany, and then in America. Those who inspired this movement believed that anti-Semitism stemmed from the Jew's way of life being too different from that of the surrounding nations; as different as heaven from earth. This seems to give the peoples around us the feeling that we are outsiders. We are hated because we are strangers, and the reason for this is the laws of Judaism.
The conclusion is simple - you need to change the way of life, which means - to abandon such Torah laws that distinguish us - Shabbat, kashrut laws, brit mila and others. And the leaders of the Reformed synagogues took up these undertakings. In everything the reformists tried to imitate their surroundings: in a number of synagogues in Germany they began to accompany prayer with playing the organ, in a number of congregations in America there were attempts to transfer Saturday prayers to Sunday. The reform tried to turn the Jews into Germans who professed the religion of Moses, and the inspirer and theorist of this movement, the philosopher Moshe Mendelssohn, called on the Jews to be Jews at home and Germans on the street. Has the reform achieved its goal? Even a cursory acquaintance with historical data is enough to answer this question. In the collection "Antisemitism in Europe from 1848 to 1914. (Jerusalem University Press) in August Rolling's article "The Talmudic Jew" we read: the Reform Jew goes hand in hand with the Talmudic Jew." The reform achieved nothing. Obviously, there was a mistake, not a different way of life caused hatred for the Jews; the fact remains: the Jews changed their way of life, but this did not help, they were refused to be considered other Jews.
Assimilation theory
Then a new theory arises - the theory of assimilation. The Assimilationists proposed the most seemingly simple solution to the problem: the existence of the Jewish people must cease, and there will be no one to hate. You just need to mix with the local population, not only adopt its culture and way of life, as the reformists suggested, but mix physically - with the help of mixed marriages, by adopting Christianity, whatever you like - the main thing is to mix. The solution is radical, should have helped.
Indeed, at first it might seem to the assimilated Jews that they had achieved their desired goal, and besides, they had a serious ally among the peoples around them - the democratic internationalist movement, which advocated the abolition of all national barriers. Democrats have always and everywhere been ready to sacrifice a Jew in order to save a person, i.e. a Jew will cease to be a Jew, the main thing is that a person remains.
I must say that in the very idea of assimilation there was a lot of contempt for oneself, there was a certain cruelty. Think for yourself: for two thousand years, the Jewish people have been going through pogroms, the fires of the Inquisition, forced baptisms, and at the same time trying to save themselves. And now there are people who say that it is necessary to make the concept of "Jew" a thing of the past. In other words, they offer to admit that everything that has happened so far - two thousand years of suffering and effort - is a mistake. The baptized Jew Boris Pasternak in his novel Doctor Zhivago writes: “Why did the rulers of the thoughts of this people not go beyond the too easily given forms of world sorrow and ironic wisdom? Why, at the risk of bursting from the irrevocability of their duty, as steam boilers burst from pressure, did they not disband this detachment, fighting for no one knows what and beaten for what? Why didn’t they say: “Come to your senses, that’s enough, no more is needed, don’t call yourself as before, don’t huddle together, disperse!”
Were the Assimilationists able to defeat anti-Semitism? They themselves certainly seemed to be succeeding. Having assimilated, they received all rights and quickly penetrated economic circles, industry and culture. However, time passed, and the moment came when the attempt of the Jews to behave like non-Jews began to irritate their environment. "I wouldn't have anything against the Jews if they acted like Jews and didn't go everywhere like Germans." Do you know who said it? Adolf Gitler. We are well aware of the claims against the assimilationists: what are the Jews doing here, why are they mastering our culture? What can the critic Rabinovich understand in Russian (German, Polish, etc.) literature? We see that assimilation did not weaken anti-Semitism in the least; on the contrary, it exacerbated the Jewish question.
Rise of Zionism vs. Anti-Semitism
The fact that the Jews quickly achieved a high social position pleased the Assimilationists, but irritated the Judeophobes. It is curious that it was the Germans who put the final dot on the "i" in the theory of Jewish assimilation. Even those who managed to assimilate, even those who were born from marriages with non-Jews, did not escape the common fate. The Assimilation movement received its first strong blow in France during the well-known Dreyfus Trial. This happened in the country that was the first to emancipate the Jews, the first to give them civil rights. It is also known that at that time the Hungarian assimilated Jew Theodor Herzl was in Paris as a correspondent for one of the Viennese newspapers. The Dreyfus trial and everything that happened around him made a revolution in the soul of this man. Herzl, as you know, later becomes the founder of a new movement in the Jewish people - Zionism. Zionism saw antisemitism as part of our exile. From the point of view of Zionism, the cause of anti-Semitism is that our people are scattered among other peoples. True, there are French people who live, for example, in England; and how many English people live all over the world, how many Americans, why don't they feel hatred? Zionism has found the answer: behind the back of an Englishman who lives in France stands England, that is, he has a national home that protects his interests. If so, then we need to build a national home for the Jews, in other words, we need to build a Jewish state. Herzl and other Zionists understood, understood that it was an impossible task to gather all the Jews of the Diaspora, but they believed that if a Jewish state was created, it would be able to give protection and respect to Jews in all the countries of dispersion.
In fact, even theoretically it looks rather weak. If the number of Nobel Prize winners among Jews did not inspire respect for this tribe, then why would the creation of a state inspire respect? And one more thing: is it possible to assert in general that our very dispersion, the fact that we are in the diaspora, causes hatred towards us? After all, along with the Jewish people in the same era, its neighbors were expelled from their homeland: the Moabites, the Ammonites and other peoples. Why was there no hatred towards them? Has anyone heard of anti-Moabism or anti-Ammonism? Perhaps none of us have heard anything like this for the simple reason that these peoples have disappeared. But then why didn't the Jewish people disappear, because they were in the same conditions as their neighbors. Why does it still exist, despite constant attempts to destroy it?
The Zionists did not ask themselves these questions, but energetically set about the practical implementation of the idea - the construction of a Jewish state. Herzl was looking for a suitable place for a long time, considering the option of Argentina or Uganda, until he finally decided to stop at Eretz Israel. As a result of several decades of strenuous efforts, the state was finally founded - this was, no doubt, a great success for Zionism.
Did the creation of a Jewish state weaken anti-Semitism? On the contrary, it intensified. Let's explain. In a number of countries, the Jew is hated precisely for his indifference to the fate of the land in which he lives. But in the same states they hate him for excessive interference in public life. “Stranger that you climb into our culture? (architecture, literature, etc.)” Now that a national Jewish home has been built, alienation will increase.
Practical results of theoretical calculations
Assimilation against antisemitism
A Jew, even the most assimilated one, becomes a squared stranger in the Diaspora. Who among us does not remember the call: “Go back to your Israel!” The Zionist movement, against its will, only added fuel to the fire. In 1912, the German press published an essay by Daniel Freimann (Heinrich Klass) "If I were the Kaiser." Here is what he writes about the development of the Zionist movement: “They (i.e., the Zionists) declare that the true assimilation of foreign Jews among the peoples who give them hospitality is impossible due to the racial laws of nature, which turned out to be stronger than external assimilation in a foreign environment.
Zionism versus antisemitism
Zionists confirm what the opponents of the Jews, who adhere to the racial principle, have been asserting for a long time. They may be a handful among their brothers in race, but the truth they proclaim cannot be silenced any longer. German and Jewish nationalists are unanimous that it is impossible to destroy the Jewish race. Who can question the right of a German to draw political conclusions from this? This is how German anti-Semites reacted to the Zionist movement in 1912. Zionism gave them additional legitimation to demand the expulsion or extermination of the Jews. If the racial uniqueness of the Jew is indestructible, if assimilation is impossible, it remains to draw conclusions. The Germans made them thirty years later...
Establishment of the State of Israel - Against Anti-Semitism
Now let's see how the very creation of the State of Israel influenced the Jewish question. In the first years of its existence, there was a lull in the camp of anti-Semites: the war ended, the world learned about the atrocities of the Nazis, and for a certain time the peoples of the world experienced a certain guilt complex in relation to the Jews. The exception was Russia, for which Israel quickly became a factor in domestic rather than foreign policy. Recall the events: the exposure of pseudonyms in 1946 and the subsequent persecution of "cosmopolitans", the defeat of the Jewish anti-fascist committee and the murder of Mikhoels, the execution of Jewish poets, and finally, the case of doctors in 1953 - the last chord of Stalin's power. After several years of "thaw" - a new explosion of anti-Semitism as a result of the six-day war in 1967, unbridled persecution of Jews in the media in the early 80s, "Memory", the Jewish-Masonic psychosis of the 90s. Over the past two decades, hundreds of articles and books have been published in Russia, targeting the Jews themselves, their past, their culture, traditions, and religion. General statement: Judaism and its literature (Tanakh and Talmud) are the sources of racial ideology and the most inhumane ideas in the history of mankind. The Protocols of the Elders of Zion have surfaced again. The idea that the Jews have long sought to take over the world, and that they have almost reached their goal, is becoming more and more popular.
In 1975, the United Nations passes a resolution equating Zionism with racism. Thus, by a brilliant propaganda act, the Jews were identified with Zionism, and Zionism with racism (Nazism was still not spoken aloud at that time). This resolution led to the rapid spread of anti-Semitism in the third world; in countries where Jews have never been seen have readily adopted this ideological template to explain their internal and external problems. The less rational the explanation, the more acceptable it is. Instead of reflecting on the causes of crises in the third world, developing countries are blaming everything on the traditional scapegoat that the UN resolution acquaints them with - Jewish imperialism. He seeks to take over the world and plunder the developing countries. “If there is no water in the tap, the Jews drank the water” - today this thoughtful conclusion is accepted in the countries of Asia and Africa, which did not know who the Jews were before.
The creation of the State of Israel sparked an explosion of anti-Semitism in the Arab world, especially in Egypt. There, anti-Semitism is the lot of intellectuals, cultural figures, who from time to time publish articles in the Oktober magazine claiming that only Hitler fully understood the danger posed by world Jewry. A new hotbed of anti-Semitism, this time a religious one, is Shiite Muslims, inspired by aytols from Tehran. Neo-Nazism has been on the rise in Western Europe since the 1950s, and anti-Semitism flared up in the liberated countries of Eastern Europe in the late 1980s.
We see that in the first forty years of Israel's existence, anti-Semitism has not only not weakened, but, on the contrary, has intensified. Maybe this wave of anti-Semitism originates in the Arab-Israeli conflict and is a reaction to Israeli policies? But if the matter is only in a local conflict, then why does it take on a universal scale? Why are there statements in the world press that Israel threatens the security of the whole world and the ideals of humanism for which advanced humanity is fighting? Most likely, a new wave of anti-Semitism in the world is directed against the very existence of the State of Israel as the embodiment of world Jewry.
This point of view was expressed and substantiated on the pages of the Bulletin of the United Kibbutz Movement "Akibutz ameuhad" Professor Yehuda Bauer. In his article, he examines the world press after the 1982 Lebanese war, when, finally, world public opinion was freed from the guilt complex towards the Jews and accused them of Nazism. In 1975, they only talked about racism, but now Jews were called Nazis out loud. Bauer himself, a staunch left-wing Zionist who opposed the government's policies in Lebanon, admits that the anti-Semitic sentiment in the world press is not caused by Israeli policies. After all, the world press criticized not only the war in Lebanon. Israeli soldiers were accused in the Swedish and French press of cutting off the heads of Arab children for religious purposes! Medieval accusations of ritual murder appeared in liberal, democratic newspapers in Western European countries.
These newspapers claimed that the cruel Jewish people took out on the Palestinians in Lebanon all their hatred for humanity, accumulated over the centuries. Such accusations are not a criticism of the Israeli government and its policies, they are a blood libel against the Israeli as such, with all the ensuing consequences for the Jews of the diaspora countries.
Bauer concludes his article by summarizing: “First of all, it must be recognized that the assumption that Zionism or the founding of the state would weaken anti-Semitism in the world or make it more effective to combat it was not justified. Vice versa. It can be said that the very existence of the State of Israel causes an increase in anti-Semitism. The other side of the coin is that the state of Israel is not capable of fighting anti-Semitism, because it simply does not have the strength ... ”This is the conclusion of Yehuda Bauer, a Zionist and kibbutznik. The State of Israel not only did not weaken anti-Semitism, but, on the contrary, its existence exacerbated the Jewish problem.
Results of the fight against anti-Semitism
To sum up: none of the proposed solutions to the problem of anti-Semitism has achieved its goal. Serious people, thinkers, for two centuries cannot understand what is the essence of this phenomenon. Maybe each of them made a mistake in the calculations? Unlikely. If one by one everyone is mistaken, if no one can find what they are looking for, then perhaps they are looking in the wrong place. Everyone is looking for a rational reason for the existence of anti-Semitism, but maybe there is none? Maybe anti-Semitism is inherently irrational, and there is no rational reason?
What is the essence of the phenomenon of anti-Semitism?
Let's think about the facts. Anti-Semitism is a phenomenon so ancient and all-encompassing that it is difficult to put it into any framework at all. It has existed for more than two thousand years on all continents. In different countries and at different times, Jews are hated for a variety of sins; moreover, sometimes they are hated for completely opposite reasons. In some countries they are not loved as beggars, and in others - as rich, bourgeois. Often, in the same country, the upper classes hate them as rabble, while the lower classes hate them as blood-sucking exploiters. In some countries they are hated for fanaticism, for being reactionary, in others they are seen as a hotbed of free-thinking. In 1946-1953. the Soviet government attacked the Jews for rootless cosmopolitanism, and in recent years the Russian press has been accusing them of the atrocities of the Bolshevik revolution, the creation and creation of the KGB punitive machine. Paradox?
In some countries (as in Poland in 1848) they were hated for their complete indifference to the fate of the country, in others they were hated for excessive interference in public life (Spain, Germany).
These facts lead to an inevitable conclusion: hatred of the Jew is a priori, only at different times it finds various pretexts for itself, often opposite ones. That which is hated by people is what the Jews are accused of. After the Second World War, in the eyes of the intelligentsia, racism and Nazism are especially hated - the Jews are accused of these sins. Not so long ago, the Archbishop of San Francisco wrote: “In essence, Nazism is deeply Judaic.”
It is safe to say that if fat people are hated in the twenty-first century, then anti-Semites will find that among the Jews the number of fat per capita is higher than in other nations. If they hate the skinny, they will find that the Jews are the skinniest people in the world. If there is a struggle between fat and skinny, some will reproach the Jews as hotbeds of fatness, others - as patrons of thinness.
All the reasons for anti-Semiticism are in fact not reasons, but pretexts. “It does not matter for what, the main thing is that the Jew be burned,” said one wise man. “The anti-Semite,” J.P. Sartre notes, “is reliably immunized against logic and experience.” The anti-Semite will say that he hates the Jews, because the Jewish tailor deceived him, which means that all Jews are deceivers. Why not draw another conclusion: all tailors are liars? The answer is simple: this man felt hostility towards the Jews even before the tailor deceived him, and therefore concluded: all Jews are deceivers, not all tailors are deceivers.
What is the true source of anti-Semitism?
Antisemitism is just another law of nature
Jew-hatred is a priori, but what is its source? Why, after all, do they hate the Jews? Sartre cites the following phrase of an anti-Semite: "There must be something in the Jews, sometimes they cause me physical disgust." “It's like saying there must be something in tomatoes if they disgust me,” remarks Sartre. This is the very "something" hated by people in the Jews, like phlogiston, the substance, the existence of which the alchemists assumed. The anti-Semite firmly believes in its existence, but common sense is forced to state: just as there is no phlogiston, so there is no real, valid reason for hating the Jews. Anti-Semitism is an irrational phenomenon that has no explanation. Suffice it to recall that in our time anti-Semitism flourishes in countries where there are almost no Jews: Japan (150 people), East Germany (125 people), Poland (5000 people) and Romania! Hatred of a Jew is sometimes mystical, just remember Gogol's books!
Those who were looking for a rational reason for anti-Semitism were trying to find something that doesn't really exist, so all their attempts have come to nothing. It's time to turn to Jewish sources. As already mentioned, the spiritual leaders of the Jewish people never looked for a radical solution to the Jewish question, never dreamed of eradicating anti-Semitism, because they took it for granted. They saw in their hatred of the Jews a law similar to the law of nature. Does anyone think of fighting the rain? Law is law! Where did such confidence come from?
Anti-Semitism and Galut (expulsion from the land of Israel
It must be said that the Zionists were close to the truth on one point, that anti-Semitism is the result of our exile. However, Zionism did not ask itself two questions - why did our people end up in exile, and why did other peoples, once in exile, quickly disappear, being assimilated, while the Jewish people were not assimilated? The Torah, in the book Devarim, warns the Jews about keeping the laws of the Torah. It is written thus: "Beware lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods." And if this happens - "And the wrath of God will kindle on you, and He will close the sky, and there will be no rain, and you will soon disappear from the beautiful land that the Lord God will give you." The Torah warns that the punishment for not fulfilling the commandments will be expulsion from Eretz Israel. Eretz Israel is an unusual place, it is the residence of G-d, the "royal palace".
It is clear that breaking the laws of a king somewhere in a distant kingdom is one thing, and breaking them in the palace itself is ten times worse. Anyone who does not know how to behave in the royal palace is likely to be kicked out. But even if outside the gates, he does not repent and does not ask for forgiveness, then the matter will not be limited to the fact that he will be expelled, he will also be punished. Therefore, the Torah says that exile can take a lighter form, or maybe a more severe one. Exile in itself is already a punishment, but if the people do not repent, the exile will be accompanied by suffering: “And the Lord will scatter you among all nations, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth. And you will serve other deities, not known to you or your fathers - wood and stone. But even among those nations you will not rest, and there will be no rest for your foot, and the Lord will give you an anxious heart, anguish and sorrow of the soul.
Pay attention - in a few words the whole history of the Jewish people is in Galut; there was not a single country in which a Jew would feel confident. The life of the Jewish people in Galut is constant expulsions from one country to another: from England to France, from France to Germany, from Germany to France, etc. “And there will be no rest for your foot, and the Lord will give you there alarmed heart, longing and sorrow of the soul. And your life will hang in the balance before you, and you will be in fear day and night, and you will not be sure of your life. In the morning you will say: Oh, if evening came! - and in the evening you will say: Oh, that morning would come - from the fear that your heart will be embraced, and from the spectacle that you will see before your eyes.
The Torah predicts that if the Jewish people do not learn from exile, do not understand that it came as a punishment for leaving the Torah, then suffering will overtake them: the peoples of the world will begin to hate him. This hatred, animal, inexplicable, will be a scourge in the hands of the Creator, punishing our people for leaving the Torah. The sages in the Talmud talk about how this happens. We mentioned at the beginning of King Ahasuerus; the last syllable of his name is "rosh", "head" in Hebrew. The sages say that it is named so to show that anyone who hates the Jews "becomes the leader." In other words, the political conditions in the world will develop in such a way that anti-Semites will easily find their way to power and will be able to bring their hatred to life.
Anti-Semitism - Defender of the Integrity of the People of Israel
However, one should not think that the only purpose of anti-Semitism in the world is to punish Jews for turning away from the Torah. There is another aspect. In the prophet Yehezkel, in the 20th chapter, we read: “And what you have planned, what you say: We will, like other peoples, serve wood and stone. I live, says the Lord. With a firm hand, and with an outstretched right hand, and with fury pouring out, I will reign over you, and I will bring you out of the nations, and I will gather you from the countries in which you are scattered. The prophet predicts that a moment will come when the Jewish people will tire of the two thousand years of struggle, and there will be those who want to throw off the burden and try to get closer to the peoples of the world. “We will be like other nations!” The prophet warns them in advance: "What you planned will not happen." The commentators say that the words: "And I will pour out my wrath" mean that the Almighty will instill hatred towards the Jews in the hearts of the nations, so that they will expel them from their midst. In other words, a force will appear that opposes the desire of the Jews to assimilate, an irrational animal hatred, whose name is anti-Semitism. She saved our people!
Preparing for the geula (deliverance
In addition to punishing and preserving the people, anti-Semitism has another, the most important goal - preparation, preparation for future deliverance. The exile we are in is not the first in our history. The very first exile was in Egypt. Interestingly, the Torah does not explain in any place for what sins our ancestors ended up in Egypt. A well-known Jewish thinker, the author of the book "Akedat Yitzhak" explains: in fact, there was no sin, and exile and slavery in Egypt are not a punishment for sin, but preparation for a further role that the Jewish people must play in history. In other words, Egyptian slavery was a preparation for receiving the Torah. The Exodus from Egypt was, in fact, the birth of the Jewish people, from there begins its path in history. The suffering of slavery in Egypt spiritually cleansed and prepared the Jewish people for their lofty mission in history. It is possible that the last galut is also the preparation of our people for its majestic role - to bring light to all peoples.
It's a shame that Jews do not see things so obvious that even non-Jews see them. Here is what the Russian philosopher Nikolai Berdyaev wrote: “If you want to touch the secrets of national existence, then think deeper and more seriously about the Jewish question, and if the indestructible power of Jewry in history does not give you a sense of nationality, then you are hopeless. You have thought of different ways of solving the Jewish question, but you are powerless even to approach this world question. You will never cope with Jewry, it is stronger than all your teachings, all your confusions and simplifications. Jewry has its own mission in world history, and this mission goes beyond the boundaries of the rational. So wrote a Russian man who realized that no attempt to solve the Jewish question would help. Two thousand years of endless exiles, suffering, bonfires - all this is preparation for a magnificent mission.
We received three answers to the question why anti-Semitism exists. In fact, why do we need to know? People do not like to suffer, and suffering comes from the fact that a person does not understand why he must go through difficult trials. The Jewish people go through a lot of suffering, but if we understand their purpose, then it will be easier for us to endure them.
findings
Let's finish with a parable. When the Creator created animals, He created a dove without wings. A dove came to the Creator and said: “Lord of the world, where is justice? You made all the animals normal, only I can hardly run, my legs are weak, every predator can overtake me in no time. The Creator told him: “I will give you a reliable means by which you can always be saved, I will give you wings.” And the Creator gave him wings. After a while, the dove returns and says, “What have you done? Not only could I hardly run away from my enemies before, now You have given me these heavy wings that get tangled under my feet, I step on them, I fall, now I have no life at all. The Creator said to him: “Fool, are wings for walking? Wings to fly!
It seems that the meaning of the parable is clear. Our attitude to Jewish history, our attitude to the hatred that surrounds us, depends on whether we understand the meaning of our Jewishness. If we try to walk with our wings, they become a heavy burden. But if we understand that wings are given in order to fly, then Jewry will cease to be a heavy burden.
Anti-Semitism is a scourge in the hands of the Tsar
Rav Yitzhak Zilber
When you think about the reasons for the general hatred of our people, you inevitably come to the conclusion that anti-Semitism is an absolutely irrational phenomenon - remember, we were amazed at how suddenly and unjustifiably the attitude of the Egyptians towards the Jews changed (chapter "Shemot" of the book of the same name)?
If in some countries we are hated because we are poor and miserable, then in others - because we are rich, bourgeois and exploiters.
If on one side of the earth we cause hatred with our strong faith, "religious fanaticism", then on the other we are considered distributors of dangerous free-thinking (this is approximately how the Jews of Russia were treated under Tsar Nicholas).
In some places we are hated for indifference to the fate of the country in which we live, for political passivity (for example, in medieval Germany), in others - where we actively participate in public life (for example, in medieval Spain and in Germany before Hitler came to power) - we are hated precisely for this ...
There is no need to look for logic in anti-Semitism.
This illogicality is explained extremely simply: the anti-Semite is an instrument in the hand of the Most High, a scourge with which the Lord punishes us for our sins.
Let us note an interesting fact: most often the Creator punished us with the hands of those peoples whose worldview we were fond of.
The departure of the Jews from faith in the one G-d and His Torah is compared by the prophets with the betrayal of a wife by her husband. This is what awaits those who have entered into a depraved relationship with foreign religions: “... I raise your lovers against you ... and turn My jealousy on you, and [lovers] will deal cruelly with you” (Yechezkel, 23:22, 25).
There is a species of insect (mantis) whose females kill males immediately after mating. Something similar happened to us: as soon as the Jews, in the next love adventure, fertilized someone else's ideology, as it launched its poisonous sting into them.
The Egyptians hated the Jews as soon as they began to imitate them and stopped circumcision.
When the Jews in the era of the judges began to worship the Philistine god Dagon, the Philistines attacked the country. They oppressed Israel and overlaid it with an unbearable tribute. And the people groaned until they removed foreign gods from their midst and began to serve the Lord (see the Book of Judges, 10:6-16).
At the time of the First Temple, the Jews began to worship the idols of Assyria and Babylon (see Mlahim - The Book of Kings - II, 16:10 and Yechezkel, 23:9-17). And in this case, the object of their passion became the instrument of punishment of the Jews: as we already know, the Assyrians expelled ten tribes of Israel from Eretz Israel, and the Babylonians - the two remaining tribes - Yehuda and Benjamin.
The fascination with Hellenism led our people to a massive departure from their religion, and the Greeks eradicated Judaism in Eretz-Israel almost without hindrance, and destroyed the recalcitrant.
The same thing happened with the emergence of Christianity: the new religion, created by the apostate Jews, first contributed to the rejection of themselves from the people of Israel, and subsequently brought innumerable disasters to the Jews among whom it arose.
In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, during the heyday of German humanistic philosophy, Jews, grateful for their civil rights, began to bow before "cultural" Germany. It was in this country that the reformist movement was born, intending to "modernize" Judaism. The reformists built their synagogues on the model of German churches, prayed to the accompaniment of an organ, included the singing of a women's choir in the service ... The most "progressive" of them moved the day of the commanded rest from Saturday to Sunday; they threw out the words “... and bring us to Zion, Your city, with songs, and to Jerusalem, the place of Your Temple, with eternal joy” from the prayer, because they adopted the new ethics proclaimed by the ideologists of this movement: “You cannot be cunning when addressing to the Almighty. We are grateful to Him that we have the good fortune to live in cultured, enlightened Germany, and not in dark, backward Asia. Are we going to beg to be returned?!" It was in Germany that the process of mass assimilation of Jews began, it was there that voluntary baptism became commonplace, and it was from there that the national disaster of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries spread to the whole of Western Europe, Poland and Russia: the departure of the Jews from the Torah. And it is no coincidence that Germany dealt a terrible blow to the Jewish people.
The founder of "scientific" communism, Karl Marx, was the son of Jewish parents who were baptized when the boy was three years old. This false messiah succeeded in captivating many of those about whom his associate Engels wrote: “The Jew is revolutionary by nature. He was brought up on the ideals of the prophets about the equality and brotherhood of all people.”
A significant percentage in the Communist parties of all countries of the world were and are Jews. The Jews marched in the vanguard of the Russian revolution and for a quarter of a century were among the most implacable enemies of the religion of their fathers. It was they who were to blame for the mass assimilation of Soviet Jewry, it was with their hands that Lenin and Stalin destroyed our ancient culture, it was they who persecuted their brothers who studied Torah and Hebrew, it was they who cracked down on believing Jews, accusing them of counter-revolution and sending them to camps.
We are well aware of the fate of these former members of the Central Committee, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, workers of punitive organs - revolutionaries of Jewish origin: almost all of them died in the very dungeons where blood brothers who remained faithful to their Gd and their people were sent. Those of them who miraculously survived, as a rule, regret what they have done, and some, having been released, repented and returned to Jewry.
The formidable warnings of the Lord came true here exactly: “... what lies did your fathers find in Me, that they turned away from Me, and went after the empty, and [themselves became] empty? .. Your evil will punish you, and your waywardness will convict you and you (Judea. - FROM.) you will know and see how bad and bitter [it will be for you] because you have forsaken the Lord your Gd, and you have not been afraid of Me…” (Jeremiah, 2:5, 19).
The prophets called out to the people: “Return, O Israel, to the LORD your Gd, for you have stumbled because of your sin” (Hoshea, 14:2); “He who knows, let him return ...” (Yoel, 2:14) - that is, let him correct what he can.
QUESTION:
Why does no one like the Jews??!!
Dmitry Smirnovich
St. Petersburg
First of all, I will make a correction: there are also non-Jews who have sincere friendly feelings towards Jews. However, in general, the psychological attitude, let's call it "dislike" - in various gradations and shades: from vague negative feelings to anger and hatred - is the lot of most people in all countries where Jews live.
The first thing that comes to mind is to look for the cause in some rather actively manifested negative traits inherent in the bulk of the Jews. Or - vice versa: in their special abilities, generating the envy of the environment.
However, "methodologically" this is incorrect.
They do not like Jews, no matter what traits dominate their behavior. They do not like their isolation, the desire to live apart. They also don't like it when the Jews are eager to assimilate - to forget about their traditions, "dissolve into the environment."
In the same way, the real or imagined "special abilities" of the Jews cannot play a decisive role in this. Indeed, in the non-Jewish world there is no hatred, for example, towards the Armenians or the Chinese, who (seemingly, to the envy of others) demonstrate no less abilities. Although, of course, they sometimes have to deal with xenophobia based on “competition”. More precisely, they may not like one or another lucky Armenian, Chinese, Japanese, etc., who have outstanding abilities. But this dislike does not rise to the level of a mass phenomenon (relationship to an entire nation).
The negative attitude towards the Jews cannot be attributed to the "characteristics" of this or that existing nationality. Although the coloring and specific manifestations of hatred towards Jews may be different in different countries and at different times.
They do not like Jews in both phlegmatic Scandinavia and temperamental Italy. I am not talking about the active hostility towards the Jews, on a mass level, that the Germans, Poles, Lithuanians, Ukrainians and others showed during the Second World War, having received “freedom of action” from the authorities, I am not talking about.
What is the conclusion from all this?
We have to admit that it is useless to look for the reasons for the widespread emergence of dislike for Jews in the materialistic plane. They are above considerations of profit, above simple human envy, above the rejection of "strangers" ...
Let's try to formulate the essential, root definition of the reason for such a "denial" of the Jewish people. And for this we, of course, need to remember the roots, the meaning of the existence of the people of Israel.
Briefly, the meaning of the existence of the Jewish people can be expressed as follows: “The Jews are predestined to preserve the Wisdom revealed to us by the Creator on Mount Sinai, pass it on to future generations, and thereby bear the seal of knowledge about the existence of the Almighty.”
Far-reaching conclusions follow from this. If the Supreme exists, not everything is permitted. This means that in the behavior and in the worldview of people there are boundaries established by Him. And man ceases to be the "master of the world."
This prevents (more precisely, it seems that it prevents) a person from being “himself”. And, of course, since the idea of the existence of the Almighty cannot be completely thrown out of the head (this idea lives in the most hidden depths of the soul of every person), the easiest way is to “blame” the carriers of this idea. That is, the people of Israel.
This is the spiritual root of anti-Semitism. Everything else is just variants and “colors” of this phenomenon.
The question remains to be clarified how everything we have just talked about explains the hatred of the Jews experienced by religious people (Christians, Muslims, etc.). After all, it would seem that they quite officially “sign” under the recognition of the idea of the existence of the Creator of the world...
Let's return to the fragment of the above phrase - "... in the most hidden depths of the soul of every person ...".
At the level of consciousness, a person subscribes to the doctrine of his religion. But “in the most hidden depths” his soul knows that all religions are man-made and were invented by people. The so-called "founders" of a particular religion.
But from Mount Sinai, the Most High Himself spoke to all the people of Israel. And we don't have "founders of Judaism". With the one who gave the Torah, revealed his Wisdom to us, there is no way to agree. You can't forget about Him, you can't ignore Him. And in this situation, a person is faced with a choice: either to recognize Him (having drawn very deep practical conclusions), or to turn their hatred (of various shades) on those who remind of Him. And after all, every Jew (and the Herzedek who joined him) reminds of Him - by the fact of his existence. A direct descendant of those who stood at Mount Sinai.
It is probably impossible to find a country on the map where representatives of Jewish nationality would not live. And in all these countries, the indigenous people treat this nation, if not with obvious disdain, then with wariness and antipathy. What are the reasons why Jews are not loved? Here it is necessary to list political, religious, economic and moral factors.
Politics
Israel is one of the most controversial countries in the world, it was created almost by accident at the behest of the British. The current Prime Minister of Israel is Benjamin Netanyahu, a representative of the right wing of the conservative-nationalist Likud party. The program of this party completely rejects the creation of Palestine as a sovereign state.
Over time, and primarily due to pressure from the US administration, Netanyahu softens his radical position a little - this is obviously due to internal and external criticism. But Israel's actions in relation to Iran, where both sides are infected with megalomania, clearly do not play in favor of the Jews. As a result of this policy, many people condemn the Israelis.
Aggressive states cannot please representatives of other countries. Therefore, the Jews are automatically perceived as a cruel and stubborn nation. Of course, this is not a completely correct opinion, because politics and people are different concepts.
The image of the sufferer
History has sometimes been cruel to the Jews. This is especially true of the period of the Second World War, when in many countries this nation was subjected to persecution and extermination. Undoubtedly, this is a shameful page of our common memory. But after all, not only Jews suffered during the war - many Russians, Poles, Ukrainians, Belarusians, Armenians, Italians, and, in the end, Germans died. But the image of the "sufferer" is actively exploited only by the Jews, which causes hostility among other nations.
The myth of "God's chosen"
Now let's move on to the religious question. The Jews do not hide the fact that they consider themselves a people chosen by God. Where such an idea came from - we will not tell in detail, so as not to get bogged down in the wilds of theology and philosophy. Let's just say one thing - the theory of "God's chosen people" is present in all religious Jewish movements.
We have no right to condemn this or that faith. But the opinion of the Jews about their exclusivity quite logically causes rejection in other countries and nationalities.
Detached lifestyle
Jews always live in isolation, in communities, and are reluctant to let "strangers" into their social circle. As a rule, they are very friendly with each other and always help each other out in difficult times. A certain unsociableness and secrecy of this nation gives rise to antipathy and bewilderment - especially among the Slavs, who are distinguished by their breadth of soul and openness to all people.
financial success
If you analyze the lists of the richest and most successful people on the planet, you will find many Jews in them. It is indeed one of the most financially successful nations. Jews are very economical, and even greedy. In addition, they have a well-developed commercial streak, they know how to benefit from everything, and they never miss a chance to make money. This, apparently, is the secret of their wealth.
If we talk about the Slavic mentality, then we always have intangible things in the foreground - family, friends, friendship, pleasant moments of relaxation, warmth, etc. Therefore, a Russian person will never understand and will not accept the worldview of representatives of the Jewish nationality. Although, to be honest, simple human envy is added to this.
By the way, theories about the “worldwide conspiracy of the Jews”, the omnipotence of the Rothschild clan, and other speculations that add fuel to the fire of hostility towards Jews are very common in the world. How true these theories are is debatable. But, of course, we have many millionaires and billionaires of Jewish nationality who in one way or another influence many events in the world and enjoy great power.
uncleanliness
Surely you have heard the opinion that the Jews are the most unscrupulous nation in the world. Is it really?
We can indeed find many Jewish families whose homes are chaotic and unsanitary. On the other hand, in any nation there are sloppy and sloppy people. If you ask this question, then you will find a lot of Jews who carefully follow the order, look well-groomed and fresh. So this statement is considered the most unfounded and controversial.
After analyzing all the reasons mentioned, you yourself will answer the question, are there any reasons not to like Jews? After all, the politics and religion of other peoples should not become a factor provoking antipathy. And yet, there is a good phrase that there are no bad nations. In every country there are honest and decent people, and there are marginals.
antisemitism- a negative image of Jews, hostility and prejudice towards them, based on religious or ethnic prejudices, a kind of xenophobia.
The term refers to hostility towards Jews and / or Jews, and not towards all peoples of the Semitic language group. The word "anti-Semitism" was first used by the German publicist Wilhelm Marr in the 19th century. his pamphlet "The Victory of Germanism over Jewry". The term is explained by racist ideas about the biological incompatibility of Europeans, who appeared among the first ideologists of racial anti-Semitism as the "German" or "Aryan" race, and Jews as representatives of the "Semitic race". Since then, it has meant precisely hostility towards the Jews, despite attempts, based on etymology, to extend the term to the Arabs, in view of the fact that they also speak the language of the Semitic group (Edward Said and others).
Sometimes the term Judeophobia is used as a synonym.
Varieties of anti-Semitism
Anti-Semitism is understood to mean several different phenomena associated with the manifestation of hostility towards Jews:
ancient antisemitism. The most ancient form of anti-Semitism. Accuses the Jews of hatred for all peoples, secret and overt crimes against national customs and customs, undermining the economy, spreading false teachings, disloyalty, etc.
Christian anti-Semitism, which arose c. II century. Assumes hatred of the Jews as bearers of Judaism, because they do not recognize Jesus as the Messiah, and also based on the belief that they were involved in his crucifixion. This belief is due to the content of the New Testament and Christian doctrine. Since Jesus is considered God in Christianity, the entire Jewish people were declared "God-killers". Such a worldview is characterized by the division of people according to the criterion of religion, and not nationality. Thus, ideally, when Jews converted to Christianity, they ceased to be an object of hatred. In practice, this did not always happen, and often such people and their children, despite the change of religion, were not recognized as full-fledged members of society and were called “converts” (for example, Marranos). Today, religious anti-Semitism is not limited to Christianity, since anti-Jewish sentiments, including those based on religious motives, are widespread among Muslims.
Racial anti-Semitism that arose in the 19th century. It can be called “classical”: it is with it that the very concept of “anti-Semitism” was born, and it was precisely with it that the largest manifestation of anti-Semitism, the Holocaust, became the result. He considers the Jews as inborn carriers of certain biologically detrimental traits, and therefore not only does not recognize the right to exist for the assimilated Jews, but also considers them the most dangerous, since they bring "damage" to the healthy body of the nation and try to secretly seize power over it.
. The New Anti-Semitism or Anti-Zionism. In the late 1990s, the concept of “new anti-Semitism” appeared in the Jewish environment, extending the definition of anti-Semitism to hatred of the national aspirations of Jews, primarily Zionism and the State of Israel.
In polemical journalism, new forms of anti-Semitism also appear in various post-Christian subcultures (“rock anti-Semitism”), in left and right (not only neo-Nazi) political circles, and in new movements.
. The concept of “domestic anti-Semitism” is also popular, which, as is clear from the concept itself, is not an ideology, but is a domestic rejection of Jews associated with widespread ideas about their lifestyle and attitude towards non-Jews.
The well-known Russian historian and ethnologist Viktor Shnirelman believes that in addition to ethnic and religious anti-Semitism, there is also anti-Semitism as a reaction to social modernization, the bearers of which are considered Jews. The carriers of this form of anti-Semitism can be, in particular, communists or conservatives.
Opinions on the causes of anti-Semitism
Despite the large number of sources on the problem of anti-Semitism, its causes remain poorly characterized, and therefore the analysis of the phenomenon is difficult, and its discussion is often taboo.
There are several approaches to explain the phenomenon:
According to the most common opinion, Judeophobia in the ancient world was caused by the isolation of the Jews from other peoples. This is due to the fact that Judaism is a monotheistic religion, as well as Judaism's belief that the Jewish people are God's chosen people. Likewise, early Christianity was also hated by the pagan world, resulting in many early Christians being martyred and suffering.
Many researchers explain the phenomenon of anti-Semitism by various reasons, including religious ones.
“Christians have been anti-Semites mainly for religious reasons. The Jews were recognized as an outcast and cursed race, not because they were an inferior race by blood, hostile to the rest of humanity, but because they rejected Christ. Religious anti-Semitism is, in essence, anti-Judaism and anti-Talmudism. The Christian religion is indeed hostile to the Jewish religion, as it crystallized after Christ was not recognized as the expected Messiah by the Jews.”
- ON THE. Berdyaev, "Christianity and Anti-Semitism"
American Protestant writer of Jewish origin Andrew Claven believes that anti-Semitism is “ such a good indicator of the presence of evil in a person. that, as he writes, "I tend to believe that when God made the Jews a chosen people, he chose them to serve as a kind of 'early detection system' of immorality for everyone else."
A number of well-known philosophers believed that psychological complexes underlie anti-Semitism.
"An anti-Semite is a person who is afraid. No, not the Jews, of course, - afraid of himself, afraid of his conscience and his instincts, afraid of freedom and responsibility, afraid of loneliness and afraid of change, afraid of society and afraid of the world - he is afraid of everything, and is not afraid only of the Jews."
Jean-Paul Sartre Reflections on the Jewish Question.
- I am a Jew!
(Joke)
Every person at least once faced with a contemptuous snort of his interlocutor, or even just a caustic remark on television or radio: “What did you want? He's a Jew." And how many jokes exist!
We no longer pay attention to such a dismissive attitude. There is even such a thing as anti-Semitism, which means national intolerance towards Jews.
But have you ever wondered why they are so disliked
In fact, the Jewish people have always been persecuted by other nationalities.
Consider ancient Egypt. In 1580 BC, Jews were already slaves of the Egyptians, and in 1250 they were already expelled from these territories. By 70 AD, they were punished by the Roman rulers, after which they had to flee from there. In the 7th century, the prophet Muhammad drove the Jews from the Arabian Peninsula.
And in the Middle Ages, France, England, Spain, Austria, Germany and even Kievan Rus were set against them. In addition, it is impossible not to recall the events of the 20th century and Hitler's attitude towards the Jews.
The persecution and mass extermination of Jews living in Germany during the Second World War even got the name - the Holocaust. More than 5 million Jews died then. Historians write about many reasons for Hitler's dislike for the Jews, among them: the greed of this people, their attitude towards religion, a separate way of life.
But many write about the personal antipathy of the German leader. It is believed that Hitler's first love, which broke his heart, was Jewish, in addition, many historians are inclined to believe that the Fuhrer fell ill with syphilis precisely because of a Jewish woman of easy virtue.
Whether this is actually so is absolutely impossible to answer.
Indeed, the Jews have always been in a bad position throughout history, which they repeatedly choose to tell other people. Therefore, a certain image of “sufferers” was even assigned to them.
But after all, during the existence of people, other nations also suffered and innocent people who prefer to remain silent about this. Perhaps one of the reasons for the dislike of Jews lies precisely in this image.
In addition, it is worth turning to religion
First of all, it is necessary to note the negative attitude of the Jews towards the New Testament.
It is due to the words of the Apostle Paul that after the birth of Jesus Christ, the teachings of Moses are meaningless. In addition, some Jews are sure that Jesus Christ was a sectarian and even a heretic.
But there is a negative attitude of representatives of other religions towards Jews. It is believed that in the Bible you can find references to the fact that the Jews are to blame for the death of Jesus Christ. Therefore, it is quite logical that the supporters of the Son of God treat the Jewish people badly.
The Jews themselves believe that they, like no one else, bring only wisdom and goodness into our lives, because they are the people chosen by God. People from other religions may not agree with this, as well as atheists will be against such teachings.
This is the second of the reasons for the dislike of the Jews.
Politics also plays a significant role in the attitude of people towards a particular nation.
Israel's population is almost 75% Jewish. And, it should be noted that this state behaves quite aggressively, at least in relation to Iran.
Many analysts even predicted a war between the two countries. And this conflict dates back to 2005, when Israeli President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called for the destruction of Iran, to which he received a response from Iran in the form of a course to create nuclear weapons.
To many countries, Israel's policy seems unnecessarily aggressive, hence the third reason for dislike for the Jewish people.
In addition, Jews prefer an isolated way of life, communicate only with people who have been tested by time. They do not leave each other in trouble, and they are simply very friendly with each other, but it is very difficult for a person from outside to enter the circle of friends of Jews.
Because of this, other nations often attribute to them such negative qualities as unsociableness, secrecy. Such behavior is surprising, especially among the Slavic peoples, who have always been famous for their sociability and openness. This is the fourth reason for the dislike of the Jews.
It is worth noting the financial moment
There are a lot of rich and successful personalities among the Jews. Naturally, this cannot be without frugality, which sometimes turns into greed.
This was noted by many people, such as Jean-Francois Voltaire: "The Jews are ... a people who ... combined disgusting self-interest ... towards the peoples ... on which they enrich themselves." Or Pope Clement 8th. He owns the words: "The whole world is suffering from the usury of the Jews ... they threw a lot of ... people into a state of poverty ...".
Whether this is really the case or whether it is just envy is difficult to say, but this is precisely the fifth reason for dislike for Jews.
Many more reasons can be singled out, such as uncleanliness, duplicity, stubbornness ... But these qualities are inherent in different people in different nationalities. And among the Jews there are many more exceptions than rules.
But the prevailing stereotypes can serve as additional reasons for dislike for this people.
The Jews themselves believe that the main reason for dislike for them lies precisely in religion. The Torah, the sacred book of this people, says that hatred of the Jews does not depend on any reason. Jew hatred is just a spiritual law of nature.
Yes, there are many reasons. But do all Jews really deserve dislike? After all, we are talking about certain personalities and certain moments.
Therefore, in the end, I would like to recall the words of the philosopher and writer Bakhtiyar Melik oglu Mammadov: "There is no bad nation and bad sex, there are bad people."
